There are a few trade shows for cameras that stick in most people’s minds, the two that dominate are usually PMA (Photo Marketing Association) and Photokina. With video taking a more prominent focus, the NAB Show (National Association of Broadcasters) is the big one for video and film-making. Well, Singapore has its own show too! BroadcastAsia is now in its 19th year already, and this time round, I paid a visit. As you can see from the above image, it has no problem attracting well-known names. Time was a bit short today so my tour was a bit of a whirlwind one – what you see here represent about 5% of the exhibitors present!

Canon set up a pretty large area and was showcasing its EOS Cinema line of cameras, as well as the lenses.

Speak of lenses legendary lens make Angénieux was there…

Along with Schneider Optics, who were also showing off their cine lenses. That looks like an Arri Alexa XT M, so if the camera is here…

Then so is the company. Arri had a number of their Alexa cameras out on show. Hollywood uses a large number of them with good reason, but that also means they are a bit dear for my needs.

Speaking of cameras, Red Digital Cinema was also around. They had a nice black theme booth that I believe was designed to wreak havoc on competing cameras’ exposure meters.

Red were definitely not going to a show without the Red Epic, so here it is.

There was also Professional AudioTechnolgy 2014, the sister show, and as anyone who has watched a terrible YouTube video before, poor sound is another big hit to a production’s quality. Sennheiser was present, and next to them was Roland. Way in the back was Audio-Technica, who I did not get a chance to visit.

DJI was also there, showcasing their drones. Here is a big one capable of carrying a DSLR.

DJI is quite a bit more famous though, for having these little drones. There was a netted area where they were demonstrating the drones by flying them around.

Also, on an embarrassing note: Today I learnt that DJI is Chinese company.

Here was my real purpose for the visit: I wanted to drop by Panasonic, see if the GH4 was around, and try to see how this whole 4K thing was like. Unfortunately by the time I got there, I was unceremoniously shown the door after taking this photo; Panasonic had some private networking event going on and only invited guests were allowed. I guess me using a Panasonic camera did not count as an invite. Oh well! Thursday then.

I went upstairs again and wandered to the Sony booth. They were really talking quite a bit about 4K, and showcasing a fair amount of 4K cameras. Well, they were showing a lot of cameras in general.

One whole row at a counter.

Another line in front of a special stage to do test footage with.

The other end of said line.

The special stage which the line of cameras covered, complete with the model. What is that tiny thing in the right corner?

It is the other star of the hybrid 4K cameras, the A7S. I had a bit of a go with it, along with the 70-200/4, which felt like a nice lens, but size-wise you might as well go back to a DSLR. The best part of the whole affair? I now have some samples from the A7S. A quick and not-very standard comparison will be up shortly. The early thoughts I have? It is good, but don’t believe the hype over it.